


Abby and the Dragon

by Annariel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Primeval
Genre: Gen, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 06:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17340578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/pseuds/Annariel
Summary: Abby finds a dragon.





	Abby and the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goldarrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldarrow/gifts).



> To be honest, I'm not sure where (of even if) this fits into the MCU timeline. It is presumably after Thor:Dark World.

Abby stopped in suprise. She was ninety percent certain that she was looking at a _bona fide_ dragon. She briefly tried to convince herself that it was probably just a dinosaur but the saddle and bridle suggested this was well beyond the normal level of wierdness in her life. It was a green and gold dragon, with an elegantly curved neck, large wings and a long intelligent seeming face.

Abby was standing on the edge of low hill in the Scottish borders. She'd taken advantage of a week off over Christmas to book herself into a comparatively cheap cottage away from work, from Connor, and the widespread and barely vieled interest in whether or not she and Connor were an item. There was a light dusting of snow on the hills, but not so much as to be a hazard and the sky was bright and clear. The walk she was on had been featured in a leaflet in the holiday cottage and so was, presumably, pretty popular with tourists. However, she had seen no one since she left the house and had been enjoying the isolation.

Now, confronted by what, for the sake of argument, she was classifying as a dragon, she was questionning some of her choices.

Still a dragon was just a large lizard. Abby eyed the dragon critically. In her expert opinion it was not a happy dragon. It was crouching low in the snow and she could see its rib cage moving in and out rapidly. Concerned, she began to walk down the slope. She moved slowly and carefully in order not to alarm the creature.

"There, there, let's take a look at you," she said once she was close enough for it to hear.

She paused, but when it didn't show signs of alarm, she carried on moving forwards, talking all the time.

"Aren't you a beautiful creature," she said.

It towered over her. Even crouched down, as it was, its head was higher than that of a horse, just above her reach. She settled for placing a hand on its neck. Its scales were cool under her touch. Then she stroked downwards, reaching its large body, which was warmer. She kept touching it and talking to it and managed to walk all around it in this way. She couldn't see any sign of injury, but she was more and more convinced that the creature was in some kind of distress.

"What, pray, are you doing with Ofnir? She is not a creature to be trifled with."

Abby whirled around, surprised that anyone had been able to approach. What she saw almost froze her on the spot. The Battle for New York might have been several years ago, but Loki was unmistakable. He appeared unaffected by the cold, resplendant in gold and green armour which, now Abby came to think of it, reflected the colouring of the dragon.

"She's not well," Abby said defiantly.

Loki cocked his head to one side and Abby had a panicked moment wondering if he could read minds and, if so, what he could tell. Then he frowned and his gaze slid past her to the dragon.

"What makes you say that?"

Abby turned, placing a hand on the dragon's side. "Her breathing is uneven. She's not moving much, which may be usual, but I'd have expected her to react more to the approach of a stranger than she did. Also, although I don't know her colouration, I think her skin has dulled."

Loki came and stood at her shoulder, so uncomfortably close that she could feel his breath on her neck.

"You could be right," he said.

She didn't look at him, certain that he was looking at her, waiting for some kind of reaction to his proximity. Well, he could sod off. He might be incredibly handsome but, as far as she was concerned, he was also a mass murderer with a reputation for playing mind games. Furthermore, there was a sick dragon to worry about.

"Is she used to somewhere warmer?" Abby asked as a starting point. Environment was the cause of trouble with reptiles ninety-nine percent of the time in her experience.

"Yes, but the dragons of Asgard are made of stern stuff, a little chill won't harm them."

Abby did look at him then and narrowed her eyes. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," he said blandly.

Abby mentally shrugged. She had no way to judge how likely he was to be right, and he was a trickster god so the chances of learning anything useful from his expression were nil.

Abby continued her examination, running her hand down the length of the dragon's final front leg until she chanced upon something lodged under a scale. She crouched down to examine it. It looked like a tiny arrowhead. Once again she felt Loki's breath on her neck. The man had a serious problem with personal space, either that or he was deliberately trying to discomfort her which, come to think of it, seemed equally likely.

"That," he said, "is from the bow of an Ljósálfar of Alfheim."

"Could it be poisoned?" Abby asked.

"Almost certainly. I believe your people would refer to it as Elfshot."

"Is there a cure?"

"I believe it is traditional to remove the arrowhead."

Abby was aware that she didn't know enough here to make an informed judgement here. However, in normal terms, removing the arrowhead shouldn't be any more harmful than removing a splinter for a beast of this size. She fished in the pocket of her jacket and was relieved to find she did indeed have a packet of sterile gloves in there, kept for emergencies in the field. She pulled them on and then gently eased out the arrowhead, continuing to make soothing noises as she did so. Once it was free, she broke the small first aid kit out of her backpack and wiped some disinfectant on the spot, though there was no bleeding and she wasn't even sure the creature's skin had been broken.

The dragon, which had been docile and silent throughout, made a low rumbling sound in its throat. It was halfway between a purr and a warning.

"Ah! She seems happier already."

Abby looked at him. His smile appeared genuine, but who knew.

"My lady!" All of a sudden her hand was in his and he had bent over it with a kiss. "I am in your debt. Please have a small token of my appreciation."

A small box in green wrapping paper and a gold ribbon was thrust into her hands.

"And now, I must be gone!"

Loki vaulted up onto the back of the dragon and with a rush of wind they took to the skies. Abby took a step backwards, away from the draft and watched as they circled upwards. A whirling vortex suddenly opened in the blue above them and rider and dragon vanished through it. Abby found herself alone on the frosty path holding the present.

She pulled out her phone. By some miracle it appeared she had mobile reception. Eyeing the present warily, she phoned the security services.

* * *

Forty-eight hours later from the dubious safety of Avengers Tower in New York, Abby watched as America's finest superheroes tackled the problem of a small box wrapped in green wrapping paper, tied with a golden bow. It had been scanned by a number of increasingly expensive devices and proved inpenetrable.

Thor had suggested smiting it with Mjolnir, encouraged by Hawkeye until Black Widow had clipped the latter around the back of the head and told him to behave. Smiting, it had been agreed, was to be a last resort. Abby was secretly grateful, she wasn't sure that allowing Thor to smite a present Loki had given her would work out well for her in the long run.

Pepper who was sitting next to Abby, watching proceedings, and generally adopting the role of adult in the room, said, "Maybe we should let Abby open it!"

Abby shot her an alarmed glance just as Thor said, "Have you any idea how dangerous a gift from my brother could be?"

"You have to admit, it's unlikely to be benign," Tony said.

"For once, I agree with Tony," said Steve.

"On the other hand, the alternative seems to be that we stay here indefinitely, trying to decide what to do," said Hawkeye.

Pepper shrugged. "He said he was grateful. He said it was a gift. I think it could definitely be benign."

"Loki lies, remember," said Tony.

"I agree with Pepper. We should open it," said Black Widow.

"Your reasoning?" asked Tony.

"At this point our options are to open it, or destroy it. Loki is more likely to have rigged it to blow up in our faces if we try to destroy it than if we try to open it."

"Though he might have rigged it to blow if anyone except Abby opens it," pointed out Hawkeye.

Suddenly everyone was looking at Abby. She sighed. "Right! Fine!"

The gift was currently in a secure lab behind reinforced glass. Tony let her in and then the Avengers assembled, safely, on the other side of the window.

Gingerly Abby pulled at the bow. The wrapping paper fell away. Inside was an unprepossessing cardboard box. Abby opened it and pulled out a small plastic figurine.

"What is it?" Banner asked.

Abby turned it around in her hands. "It seems to be a plastic leprechaun." It was wearing a sash that said `Welcome to Dublin'. When she turned it over there was a price tag for £1.99 stuck to its foot.

"What is a leprechaun?" Thor asked.

Hawkeye started to laugh. Abby felt herself starting to giggle as well. She wondered if Loki could see them all now, or if he'd simply enjoyed the thought of how they would react to his gift.


End file.
